So I read that blender doesn’t work good with unreal engine 4, and since I am just starting out (my friends and I started a week ago) I don’t know what software to use for modelling and animations. So, should I use blender or should I get something else? and if I should get something else, what should I get my hands on?
Thanks,
Daan
Maya and 3ds Max have the best FBX support, if you’re a student then you can register with Autodesk and get a student license for free of either of those.
Modo also works very well with Unreal, you can get an indie license on steam for around $12 a month (it costs less if you choose a subscription plan).
I’d say Blender is getting more and more powerful every month, if you spend time learning it now you will reap the benefits later, being free is a big plus.
Meanwhile i wouldn’t recommend jumping on the Autodesk bandwagon especially as a student when you have the time to learn blender instead. Today Autodesk will offer it to you for free to get you hooked but tomorrow it will extort you as half or your entire startup budget would be on their licenses and i mean $$$$ for no real benefit especially for games.
Work on the blender pipeline and improve it if you can with the help of the community, you wont regret it.
If you can find something other than 3ds Max or Maya that you want to get into that works well then it would be better, it’s not good at this point to give continued support to Autodesk for how they’ve been handling pricing and licenses along with the lack of development in their software. Modo looks like a good idea I think, but the biggest issue at the moment is that if you want to work in the industry the vast majority of studios work with Maya or 3ds Max and they aren’t likely to change.
Most, if not all Blender issues have been solved already. There are just some things you need to setup before creating stuff in Blender. One is setting up the scene - 0.01 unit scale and metric in the scene settings. Another is fixing the extra root bone on rig export thing. That’s actually getting solved in 4.16 by the looks of it but meanwhile you can use this fix: Prevent Blender FBX Exporter adding extra root bone – Kris Redbeard
You can use the free UE4Tools addon for a (retargetable) mannequin rig. Blender is actually very powerful and has no limitations compared to Modo Indie/Maya LT which have polycount limits and limited scripting capabilities.
Maya can now be rented monthly, and there is a version for game developers called Maya LT wich is about 30 or 40 dollars a month. I started out with Blender and i loved it back in the day, but then i learned Maya at university, so its the program ive been using for the past years. Ive never used both during the same period so i cant make a very good comparison. But i remember i thought the modeling workflow was much faster in Blender. But that was years ago. I would recommend Maya, because like DarthViper said, the industry is using Maya. Because of that learning Maya will maked you more attractive on the job market than Blender. Personally i like the way you can now rent Maya, even though i think its very over priced. Maya LT for me is a resonable price. Back when i started out you had
to buy a commercial licence that cost over 4000£. Now its much more affordable.
If you want a free modeling program then i would say Blender. I dont know how Blender works with UE these days but back when i was at university it was much easier making content for UE in Maya.
Thanks for all the comments, I’m 15 and I just want to be able to make a game with my friends, and we don’t have a budget or anything. I’m not looking at the industry because I want to do what is easiest at the moment (and we are going with a non-realistic art style). And if blender is powerfull enough then I am gonna use blender. So thank you guys again for the replies!
No, Maya is better, and I’m not a artist.
: ) I think he made a wiser choice with Blender, especially in his situation (this is coming from a long time Maya and Max user).
Here is a list what I miss in Blender:
That’s it! Especially if you are not going into the industry soon, you won’t regret learning Blender. It’s fast, it’s light, it’s free. Everything you learn won’t be wasted anyway and if you jump into another 3D software someday, you can just adjust the hotkeys and it will feel like you are using Blender, except bigger softwares will have some extra special buttons here and there to cut some time.
Cheers <3
If you can afford Maya or Max, then go with those, as there are a large number of studios that will, at times, give work to anyone who knows their tool of choice, and usually, that’s Max or Maya.
If you can’t afford Max or Maya, then go with Blender. Blender’s OK.
Hi, I am new to these boards, and decided to start my journey in developing a PC game.
I do have two questions:
Would I have to download the Blender Pipeline?
Is there a tutorial on what steps I would have to take in order to import the DAZ Studio figure into UE4?
In my opinion Blender is awesome. It’s free but the overall interface can be confusing. Options are everywhere and it’s hard to find what you’re looking for. When you memorize the hotkeys you’ll be modeling in a flash. I did pirate 3ds so I’m able to download 3ds files and convert them to FBXs so I can use it in blender. Overall blender gets many updates as well as it has everything you need in there to make a game. In my opinion you should use blender. After you get use to it it’s pretty simple to use. About 80% of the options you’ll never have to use so it is confusing. After you watch a couple tutorials you’ll understand.
[TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]
LEARN TO USE
https://www.blender.org/wp-content/themes/bthree/assets/images/logo.png?x83904
FOR UNREAL ENGINE
EPIC Donates to the Blender Foundation
[SIZE=6]81FREE BLENDER TUTORIALS](http://blender%20tutorials/)[/SIZE]
How to Prevent Blender FBX Exporter
Adding Extra Root one.
[/TD]
**My Personal Favorite Blender Training Video
**
https://store.blender.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bmt-470x611.jpg
[/TR]
If you want to be brave and save money use Blender.
I have been using it since July 2015 to build everything in my game with.
However … you have to KNOW Blender.
Be patient and learn all the tutorials.
There are fantastic tutorials out there.
Its also super fast once you KNOW it.
Its not buggy and never crashes.
Creating skeletal meshes and exporting those with animations very tricky and its important to do every step right.
But once you have the workflow you can use presets and from then on you just push buttons super easy.
I am very happy with Blender (in spite of all the workarounds) and plan to use it for the final game project 
Here is my project: http://worldofclouds.com/escapefrommillstation.html